The Texas Attorney General's Office calls them "diploma mills," online academies accused of handing out diplomas and GEDs for the right price, and without the necessary effort. And a Galleria-area company has become the target of the new crackdown by the state.

The name of the online school is Lincoln Academy, but the attorney general's office contends it's anything but a school. And its accreditation for handing out diplomas? That's a fake organization set up by the owners of Lincoln Academy, according to the lawsuit.

The AG's office says Lincoln Academy offers no educational benefit of any kind despite charging up to $300 to earn diplomas the AG's office calls worthless pieces of paper. And this week, the office ordered the company's assets frozen, as well of those for the owners of Lincoln and other affiliated companies, which include: Lincoln Academy National; Home School Accreditation of America; High School Diploma Online; Charles Lubbat; David Lubbat; Catherine Lubbat; Nancy Lubbat; and a half dozen more.

We went to Lincoln's listed address in east Houston. There were people in the office but they didn't answer the door.

They then told security we weren't welcome on private property. So we went to the home addresses of the owners; nobody answered the door at either house.

But we know from the lawsuit they've been instructed not to alter or delete anything from their websites. They also had to add a disclaimer on all their websites stating that they are the subject of a lawsuit by the government under the Deceptive and Fair Trade Act.